$19,999.00

V-Cap CuTF Copper Foil & Fluoropolymer Film Capacitors [Expired]

For everything the music can give...

The journey to develop the V-Cap CuTF (Copper Foil Fluoropolymer
Film) series was inspired by my obsession to tap into that special magic found in the soul of the music. Too often, passive components strip the color from the performance, or add colorations of their own. Cold, sterile, lifeless sound with flat response to bat's ears doesn't get us there. Nor does fat, bloated, "Let's make a new kind of ugly" sound either.

We audiophiles have many names for it; pace, rhythm, timing, swing, etc... But there really aren't words to describe the near out-of-body experience we get when we are connected to the soul of the music. That's our Holy Grail- our pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow. Of course, gold is never found at the end of a rainbow. You must prospect for it, and do a whole lot of digging. We have.

After nearly 5 years of the most intense R&D I've ever undertaken, I am pleased to announce the new V-Cap CuTF series- an audio signal capacitor that will take you to the soul of the music. ---- Chris VenHaus

A relentless pursuit of the performance

Early on, we were convinced that one of the keys to better performance would require the use of pure copper foil. However, five years ago, the copper foil of the purity and precision needed to make the capacitor we envisioned, just didn't exist. When we found it, the resultant domino effect led us on a journey that would reexamine ALL current processes and materials, and work with our vendors to explore even better ways of constructing an audio capacitor.

Given the many challenges, most bottom-line driven companies would have long abandoned the effort. In the middle of a Global Recession, it was madness to pursue a high-end product that would appeal to a tiny percentage of the overall capacitor market. But with our goal in sight, there was no turning back. It was unthinkable to settle for anything less than fully connecting to the soul of the music...

Real people... Real ears... Real music...

Over the years, the V-Cap team has developed partnerships with a select group of cutting-edge companies. We turned to them to help develop the materials and processes necessary to manufacture the new CuTF series to our own exacting tolerances. Throughout the process, we drew upon the expertise of some of the world's most respected engineers and scientists, as well as veteran production personnel and master capacitor winders. Each of them made invaluable contributions, and each took us a step closer to the soul of the music...

After numerous prototypes, internal evaluations, and multiple rounds of beta testing by audiophiles, musicians, OEM's, and hardcore cap-rolling-o-holics, there became a point where we knew we nailed it. Years of blood, sweat, tears, were washed away by comments like: "...unseen-before combination of extreme body, density with utmost detail", "A passive component that's truly passive.", "A new league of capacitor. The ability for transfer of musical emotion is outstanding.", "Every single time I listen to the new V-Cap, it has the dynamics and sharpness of a Ferrari and luxury and plushness of a Rolls-Royce.", "This capacitor simply disappears from the circuit.", and "as a professional pianist: I clearly hear the most accurate sounds of Steinway among any audio system I owned or auditioned. As a matter of fact, the CuTF is "officially" the best cap in the world, in my book..." etc...

While they must remain anonymous, we'd like to extend our sincere gratitude to all of the individuals who contributed to the development of this new V-Cap. From the engineers, production staff, and dedicated master winders, to the musicians, recording engineers and audiophile beta testers who generously donated their time and effort to evaluate this new series- YOU are part of this new V-Cap's heart and soul. Thank you.

Celestial foil rolled on the thighs of Supermodels?

No, our foil isn't sourced from the 1947 Roswell, N.M. crash site. Nor is it rolled on the thighs of Supermodels. However, even a busload of reverse-engineering types headed for Area 51 won't be able to duplicate the superb craftsmanship, bleeding-edge processes, and state-of-the-art materials involved in the production of the V-Cap CuTF capacitors. Here's just a glimpse behind the construction of the V-Cap CuTF series- with a few items left out, of course. Reverse engineers need jobs, too...

Lead material: 18 AWG solid core high purity OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) copper with VH Audio’s AirLok insulation- a proprietary form of foamed/cellular Fluoropolymer
with a Dieletric Coefficient of less than 1.45.

Pure Fluoropolymer
film dielectric. Cheaper forms of PTFE and FEP can be sourced (some cast, some skieved), and we tried them all. "You get what you pay for" was especially true when it comes to sourcing generic fluoropolymer alternatives to genuine DuPont Fluoropolymer
, based on our listening tests.

Oxygen Free High Conductivity copper foil ( IACS of 101%). Our copper foil is rolled to extremely tight tolerances using state-of-the-art machinery and computerized electronics that constantly monitors the foil in real-time, and makes corrections while the material is being rolled. Even the rollers are machined in-house to ensure a smooth and consistent surface finish. This quality and precision is unmatched by any other company in the world.

The copper foil is dead-soft annealed in an inert atmosphere, and treated with an anti-oxidant bath before being slit with blades that might rival the edge of a Hanzo sword.

The copper foil is vacuum packed before undergoing our proprietary Cryogenic treatment process (below -300 degrees F) . We’re not talking about throwing some copper out in the Frozen Tundra overnight, but rather a $50,000+ state-of-the-art machine that uses custom profiles, and molecular kinetics to avoid any thermal shock to the material.

Fluoropolymer
film slitting is performed in-house, which means better control over environmental cleanliness, as well as frequent renewal of the slitting blades. You won't find a messy guy with a butterknife anywhere near our film.

The winding process is performed in a clean, controlled environment on custom, internally-built manual winding machines. A select group of dedicated Master Winders (averaging over 14 years of experience) perform the winding operation with meticulous attention to every detail. Their pride of workmanship is simply unmatched, anywhere.

A new lead attachment technique was developed to maximize contact surface area with the winding and keep ESR astonishingly low, and extremely consistent from part to part.

The core of the capacitor has been engineered to optimize the structural integrity of the winding, as well as to address internal resonances that may smear the audio signal.

Dimensional ratios were carefully chosen for each value, based on listening tests specific to this construction type.

Capacitor end fill was carefully evaluated, based on sonics, as well as its long term inertness and mechanical stability. The end fill process itself is quite lengthy and requires numerous steps that were perfected over years of experimentation.

At several checkpoints during the construction process, every capacitor is tested to meet several critical electrical measurements and mechanical inspection criteria. No simple "batch testing" is performed- it's not good enough.

An extensive, rigorous testing and burn-in protocol was developed to ensure the highest performance and reliability in the extreme environment found inside equipment that uses vacuum tubes. The sheer number and extensiveness of these electrical tests is well beyond industry standards.

A truly unique product for the audiophile who demands extreme performance
The end result of this journey is a capacitor of purity, delicacy and power. A capacitor built to the same extraordinary standards as the OIMP and TFTF series- but leveraging all the goodness of pure copper foil, the innovation of some very, very smart people from around the World, and the experience of experienced, dedicated American craftsmen. Just a reminder- the
V-Cap CuTF is NOT a “rebrand” or relabeling of an already existing product, but a unique capacitor design that has been meticulously engineered and handcrafted in the U.S.A. In fact, there are so many different suppliers of materials and processes, there is only one person on the planet who knows how all the dots connect, and he's not telling...
Every V-Cap capacitor is inspected, tested, and pushed to the edge of extreme conditions, to simulate the harsh environments commonly found in tubed electronics. This ensures long life, reliability, and the ultimate in performance. In fact, V-Cap capacitors are manufactured to such high standards, they are backed by a lifetime warranty to the original purchaser.

This ad represents the price EACH for a .01 uF CuTF series V-Cap, when bought in in a quantity of at least two pieces. Please see the V-Cap website to for further details, or order V-Caps at the VH Audio website